Embracing the strange

Around the holidays, our lab conducts an annual outing for dim sum. It’s an event I always look forward to, and one of the rare cases when we can reliably tear everyone away from the bench for a few hours. There are about 20 of us, however, so we usually can’t fit at one table. Upon arrival, the group chaotically organizes into two subgroups based on a number of criteria: Who wants to sit next to the boss? Who doesn’t want to be anywhere near the boss? Who can’t be separated from their BFF?, etc. Weeks before our first outing, my rotation advisor attempted to generate table assignments based the more rational criterion of what people wanted to order and eat. Dim sum is served family style, and best enjoyed with a like-minded group of eaters. I have to give Brian credit for devising a one-question diagnostic that fairly and accurately assesses the likelihood that a diner will be on board with the ordering habits of her responding cohort: Do you eat chicken feet?

For those who have not yet had the pleasure of indulging in dim sum, let me explain the ordering procedure.

(Customs vary, but most large dim sum houses in the city run this way.) A waiter comes by and takes, typically, a single order from the table. A representative from the table fills out the paper form, which is then checked off or stamped as the staff delivers each dish. It is very important to get that order right, since a busy restaurant can’t efficiently fulfill follow-up orders on the fly. In the meantime, servers are bringing around carts of dishes that the table may add to the order. You normally don’t want those for two reasons: First, you’ve presumably optimized your paper order. Second, the restaurant knows that turnover from the carts is unpredictable. Therefore, they only send out dishes that can tolerate sitting around a while, i.e. none of the prime dishes or perennial favorites like har gau (shrimp dumpings) or the sublime tang bao (soup-filled dumplings).

So the recipe for success at dim sum is:

Have at least one person at the table (preferably one who speaks Cantonese) who knows how to order.

Populate the table with people who eat what you eat, and know not to accept most orders from the cart.

I’ve had my fair share of bad dim sum experiences. On a number of occasions, I’ve been at a table so perplexed by the myriad dishes on the menu that we ultimately found ourselves with a motley collection of redundant, filling, mediocre items. So I knew very well the importance of above strategy to the overall dim sum experience. This time, I was determined to get seated at the correct table. That would be the chicken feet table.

I had never had chicken feet in my life. They are not comely. In fact, they look a bit like goblin hands. But this was one of the best dim sum restaurants in the Bay Area, and I didn’t want my non-chicken-feet-eating ways to stand in the way of the best possible dim sum experience the restaurant had to offer. So I said, Yeah, I eat chicken feet.

The verdict? Immediately one of my all-time favorites, and one that I’ve wanted to reproduce at home for some time. Savory, with a mild kiss of heat, chicken feet prepared in this way have a profound richness derived from a high content of slow-cooked cartilage and tendon—elements that contribute the vast majority of texture, flavor and body to a stock or consommé. The closest comparison I can make is to the middle joint of a chicken wing. Tender, gelatinous, with lots of skin. But in the case of chicken feet, not as much of the meat itself.

If you’re the type of person who gets a little skeeved out by the middle joint of a chicken wing, perhaps the feet are not where you want to start. On the other hand, if you have never had chicken feet and are open to trying them, I suggest you get yourself to a chicken feetery post haste. Or, make them yourself. The recipe is straightforward and satisfying. Note: this is the first Chinese dish I have ever cooked, and it is a bang-on version of the dim sum classic.

*Cilantro can be found on the root in Thai markets. More easily, stems may be substituted. *Maltose sugar comes in either syrup or powder form, and can be found in some Asian markets. Eden foods makes a barley malt syrup, which is 76% maltose. Alternatively, 1/4 C of white sugar may be substituted.*White pepper is traditional in Chinese cuisine. However, many find its aroma to be objectionable. Black pepper may be substituted here with little consequence.

Completely unexpected and very impressive. I didn’t expect chicken feet to appear in any posts but you, of course, upped the ante. Talk about “outside your comfort zone”. Truthfully, I like chicken feet–well the sauce it’s cooked in does it for me. A college friend had me try it once and I liked it immediately.

What a great post. Definitely worth waiting for. You’ve got this challenge in the bag! 🙂

This is my ‘cringe-inducing’ food! But I still love that you tackled it, and am impressed that you somehow made it look pretty with those chocolate goodies, lol. 😉 I also love that you used the word ‘skeeved’ in your post, I used the same word in mine!

See, I like to eat at the table with chicken feet, but I probably won’t eat the chicken feet. It’s more of a visual thing for me. I’m going to take your word on their amazing. I will also applaud your bravery in trying these at home and your clever pairing with desserts. Seriously, what’s better than chicken feet & chocolate for a master foodie? And nice pandering 😉

Thanks, MaBelle. I am hopelessly full from our Challenge #3 dinner party last night. It will certainly be more accessible than fung zaau, but I can’t resist including a bit of offal. The theme is French Colonial.

Most dim sum houses I’ve been to, there are carts going around the room, and no one orders on a slip, though a couple I’ve been to have worked that way. The first time I had chicken feet, it was at a dim sum place, and it was delicious, but the texture was very odd to me. Nowadays, I put a pound of chicken feet into every pot of chicken stock. It really enhances the stock.

Awesome — love dim sum, love chicken feet and other assorted animal parts (I am half-Chinese, after all!), and love that you chose this for challenge #2. Definitely sets you apart! Just voted for you. Good luck!

Koi Palace is great! The last time I went there I tried their coffee glazed ribs, which were both authentic and disgusting (or inauthentic and delicious, depending on whether or not I’m spewing sarcasm). You did a great job of describing the dim sum experience.

This post is an absolute riot. If I wasn’t in a sturdy chair I’d probably be laughing on the floor, perhaps rolling around at the same time. I wish there was some acronym to describe that process…

YES! Excellent post and regarding that dimsum trip – sorry our seating pact didn’t end up working out. Next time, we gotta strategize carpooling assignments too, so I know I’ll end up with chicken-feet-eaters and more importantly, random-fried-stuff-on-cart-rejecters. Note: Chinese people do not eat small plates of normal entrees e.g. walnut prawns during dimsum.

Of course you have my vote Ben – you knocked this one out of the park! You know, people should start making dessert platters with fung zaau (鳳爪) – I know I’ll always reach for that instead of cupcakes.

I LOVE CHICKEN FEET! But then I am the girl who will eat everything. Seriously. Put it on my plate, I’ll eat it. I absolutely love that you made these, especially not being a chicken-foot eater! Good job, buddy. I am a proud Asian girl 😉

This brought back a memory from high school: There was a girl, who was thought of as somewhat strange, and she brought a chicken foot to eat at lunch time. Oh, how they crucified this poor girl. She heated it up in the microwave and just started nibbling on it. Being a bunch of midwestern kids, we totally didn’t get it. I felt bad for her. (not because she was eating a chicken foot, but for how cruel kids are.)

Anyway, I would have to say, I would definitely try your chicken feet. I like that sticky, gelatinous-ness from chicken bones and cartilage. With that sweet heat, oh, yum!

I think you did a great job playing out the “dim-sum lowdown” for us. I would never know what to do. And I think it’s great you said you were a chicken foot eater, even though you had never had one. Adventurous!

Wow! Chicken feet for school lunch sounds like both a luxury and a curse… One of my labmates brought me back a chicken foot that he got from a vending machine in Japan. It was wrapped in mylar and preserved at room temp. It was not as good as my chicken feet.

After 13 months of living in China they are still about the only food I haven’t got the guts to eat. And lord knows I’m happy to eat just about anything – bullfrog, duck tongues, fish cheeks, chicken stomachs and jellyfish salad. What is it about them that is so polarising??

I really want to try these after watching an exotic food show where a guy ate them and said they were really good. They look incredibly appetizing to me and I know a place here that serves very authentic dim sum. Problem is my roommate is weirded out by the idea yet he LOVES food I think it’s just how they look. Is there a good way to convince him to try. I eventually will with or with out him but he’s treating me to that place regularly now, we love it, they have so much authentic Asian cuisine, and I wish I could get him to be more adventurous. Any advice?